Tree Plantation Drive by TATA Motors!

Tata Motors is looking forward to start a huge tree plantation drive across India and other south Asian countries on World Environment Day that falls on friday. 'The tree plantation drive is part of its endeavour to constantly improve its carbon footprint,' the spokesperson said, adding that the company has set itself a target of planting 200,000 saplings across over 1,100 locations in India and abroad this year, beginning June 5.

Tata Motors has already planted over 10 million trees.'This massive campaign is driven across the company - at plant locations, offices and its dealerships, authorised service centres, and spare parts distributors.' 'This massive campaign is driven across the company - at plant locations, offices and its dealerships, authorised service centres, and spare parts distributors.' In addition, the firm is also organising a free PUC (Pollution Under Control) check-up for its commercial vehicles Friday at over 100 service centres across the country. As part of the PUC check, emission related components would be checked and rectified.

It is great to know that even the business oriented companies are coming forward to spend their precious time on environmental issues. Let us wish their campaign to be a great success!

Manmohan Singh Speaks to Obama!

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the United States President Barack Obama held a telephone conversation Saturday, one day after Singh was sworn in as prime minister for a second term, according to a report of the Indo-Asian News Service on Sunday. Obama congratulated Singh for winning his mandate in the general elections and the two leaders "resolved to work together on global challenges, including terrorism," according to the report.

Obama also said he looked forward to continuity in the India-U.S. strategic partnership, the report quoted a key aide to Singh as saying. The U.S. president invited Singh to visit Washington soon, while Singh also reiterated his invitation to Michelle and Barack Obama to visit India, said the report. Singh and Obama met for the first time on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit in London in early April.

Obama Trims 2010 Budget?

President Barack Obama is on the view to trim down 2010 budget by $17 billion from a 2010 budget that will still hover around $3.5 trillion. President Obama speaks during his 100-day anniversary news conference in the East Room of the White House. About half of the proposed cuts would come from the defense budget, and a total of 121 programs in areas including education would be trimmed or scrapped, one official told a conference call with reporters.

Even with the spending reductions, the White House's own estimates suggest the deficit will be $1.17 trillion next year. Congressional analysts believe the gap could be $1.4 trillion.Obama officials said the administration would look for further cuts in the 2010 fiscal year, which starts on October 1.This is an important first step but it's not the end of the process.Obama, who has vowed to cut the country's ballooning deficit in half by 2013, was widely panned last month when he challenged agencies to find $100 million in savings. Critics pointed out that was about equal to what the government spends in 13 minutes.

Congress has already passed a $3.4 trillion budget blueprint that will guide tax policy and government spending for the upcoming fiscal year. It embraces many of Obama's top priorities.
But the budget details the White House will release on Thursday, which build on a bare-bones outline the new president submitted to Congress on February 26, could have an impact on those individual spending bills that will wind their way through Congress in coming months.

Lankan Forces and Tamil Tigers

Sri Lankan forces battled Tamil Tiger insurgents from three sides pushing deeper into rebel-held territory amid a report that navy gunboats heavily shelled an area packed with civilians. With concerns growing for the tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the war zone, a new round of international officials came to Colombo to meet with the government. Another 200,000 civilians who already fled the fighting have overwhelmed displacement camps in the north.

The military said it captured an earthen fortification from the rebels in heavy fighting Sunday along the borders of the 2.8-mile-long coastal strip remaining under rebel control. Troops pushed further forward. Troops are moving slowly into the area from the west, the north and the south.The government has vowed to crush the rebel group and end the country's quarter-century civil war. Out of deference for the civilians in the war zone, the government promised last week to cease using artillery, mortar fire and airstrikes.

However, health officials in the region have reported continued shelling, including an attack on a makeshift hospital that killed 64 patients and bystanders Saturday.The hospital was nearly hit again Sunday night, when shells landed around 300 feet. Navy gunboats also fired scores of shells along the coast Monday morning as desperately hungry families crowded the shore to buy fish from returning fishermen.

There were no accurate counts of the dead and wounded because the hospital's registrar was wounded herself in the attack on the hospital. The military has repeatedly denied shelling the area, saying troops are using only small arms in the battle.Many in the area are struggling for food, and several elderly people are dying everyday from starvation.

India Urges SriLanka

India has reiterated that Sri Lanka capture Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran alive and extradite him to India, sources in the external affairs ministry. 'India will continue to request that Prabhakaran be caught alive.At the same time, New Delhi is aware that Colombo will hand him over only after trying him in Sri Lanka for the crimes he has committed in that country, the source pointed out.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said would extradite Prabhakaran, if caught alive, to India - but after first putting him through trial in his country.In an interview to CNN IBN channel, Rajapaksa said it was 'almost over' for the LTTE chief and he could be caught very soon.

Asked whether Prabhakaran would be extradited to India, Rajapaksa said: 'First he will have to go through our trial... And then might send him to India.''Why should I keep him... India has the right... a man who is responsible for killing Rajiv Gandhi of the greatest leaders.

A Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide bomber had blown up Gandhi during a poll rally in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu in May 1991.The sources also said that as the Sri Lanka military ceased its combat operations against the LTTE, its conventional capabilities had been hit but its command and control systems remained intact.Thus, there was a possibility of suicide bombings in Sri Lanka in the wake of the operations against the Tigers.

'India is still very concerned about the civilian population in the no-combat zone. We will step up our humanitarian assistance to the Tamil civilians by sending shipments of food, medicine and other essential supplies,' the source said.